Thursday, October 6, 2011

Fall is in the air...

It was nice and cool for a few days with a little bit of rain so I made this comforting beef, barley and mushroom stew. The broth it made was so delicious - if you think you don't like grains you should try this - so good! And good for you! Adapted from Martha Stewart

Beef Barley and Mushroom Stew serves about 4

couple tablespoons olive oil

3/4 pound sirloin tip steaks cut into bite sized cubes (I get these when they are on special from Prather and keep in the freezer, just slightly defrost so it's easy to cut)

1/2 onion finely chopped

2 carrots chopped

8 oz mushrooms sliced

1 clove garlic minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 oven roasted tomatoes chopped (if you don't have these homemade use a store bought few in olive oil - it really gives an amazing depth of flavor)

3/4 cup red wine

3 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup pearl barley rinsed

S&p the beef cubes and brown in a large dutch oven with the olive oil. Remove and set aside. Add the onion and saute the onion until tender then add the carrots and mushrooms and a little salt and cook about 10 min. Add garlic, tomato paste and roasted tomatoes and cook another couple min. Add the wine and reduce by about 1/2. Return the beef to the pot along with the broth and 2 cups water cook on low for about an hour. Add the barley and cook another 20 min - s&p to taste.